Probably the best anti-ageing beauty “product” a dame can use.

What a headline! What a hook. So intriguing and exciting. Aren’t you excited? Can you even believe what you’re about to read?? God, I can’t, and I’m the one who wrote it.

Disclaimer: If you have been so generous and popular and attractive to buy or read my beauty book, Amazing Face, this will not be news to you. But, back then when I wrote the tip, I didn’t have an actual product to recommend, just a genre, so there’s still something in this post for you beyond the obvious hilarity.

Disclaimer #2: I had chia seeds in my porridge this morning, sorry if there are some between my teeth.

Okay, are you ready? The product is A SILK PILLOWCASE.

Don’t make that face. It’s not as big an indulgence as you think, in fact, you probably spend the same amount on that Shellac pedicure you get each month. ($60)

Why it’s worth it:

It’s simple: because silk looks after your skin while you sleep like some kind of angelic babysitter. It’s a breathable and natural fabric, and quite the anti-ageing device too. It’s extremely soft and gentle on the skin, unlike cotton or cotton/polyester blends or satin, which are harsh on your face, and will thieve the moisture from the skin. My favourite part is that silk prevents those gnarly sleep lines you wake up with all over your face when you use non-silk, which, over time, you better believe will have a long-term effect on the texture and appearance of your face. (Ditto the chest lines, which is why I always say your face stops at your boobs, in terms of sunscreen/moisturiser/masks etc.)

And! Silk pillowcases do good things for your hair too. It keeps your blow-dries longer, and prevents your painstakingly created hair styles from being a mess in the morning. If you have curls, they won’t tangle and knot. And if you prefer a bed head look, like I do, when you wash your hair at night then roughly blow dry it off, your hair is that lovely, soft, non-frizzy bed head, not the wild ratwoman one.

I have been using the same two silk pillowcases for years. When I was between the two cities, I had one in Melbourne and one in Sydney, and I always pack one when I travel overseas, such is my dedication to not having sleep-crease lines, and my addiction to the softness. I can’t even remember where they came from, except that they are no longer white, but a charming grey colour, and they have my initials on them, which makes me think they were part of a press kit from a cosmetics brand years back, or else I once dated a man in his 70s with a penchant for embroidery. Who can say.

I didn’t like the fact that my husband’s pillow case was one colour (a nice colour which matched the linen) and my pillowcase, while doing terrific things for my skin, looked sad and out of place and shabby. So I bought some more. Now obviously you can get silk pillowcases at bedding shops and Myer and David Jones, but I went with slip, an Aussie brand I have become quite fond of and not just because their pillowcases are terrific and their marketing is cheeky. Now I have SEVERAL pillowcases in the shades I like my bedding to be (dark chocolate, latte and grey – all terrific shades for masking fake tan marks, I find), which means my husband gets one too, because I shouldn’t be so greedy and hog all the non-wrinkling, and apparently men age too although Sylvester Stallone leads me to think otherwise, so fresh and youthful is his face.

Consider ditching the cotton and sassing some silk. You won’t regret it. The fact that you feel rich when you wake up on a silk pillow is merely a happy bonus. Oh, and also they make a wonderful gift, because strangely some women can’t justify spending some of their salary on fancy pillowcases. I KNOW, can you believe it??

Ok just bought one as I have crazy hair (usual response to my hair in the morning is wow!!! And not in a wow you look hot, more of a wow, do you wrestle crocodiles with your bear hands in your sleep sort of way). I will look forward to beautiful hair!

I swear by them Zoe. Also fabulous for my blonde hair that tangles so easy!
On another note i was hoping that you might have some product suggestions for Foundations that suit day long wear, wedding occasions. I was hoping to go for the glowy look!
Love your blogs, am completely addicted x

It is a makeup sponge of the fancy pants variety. http://www.beautybay.com/beautyblender/
Yes, it is far superior to the Manicare variety, but I don’t know exactly how. I like is best for thicker foundations. Gives a really smooth finish.

I love the idea of waking up on a silk pillowcase but I am worried about ruining it with the rosehip oil that I apply every night since reading your wonderful book. Since I started using rose hip oil I have found that all of my lovely 1000 thread count pillow cases have a distinct yellow hue. Thoughts?

I have linen by the ‘Worlds Softest Sheets’ and they are 500 thread count and incredibly soft. I wonder if there is much difference between silk and these? Wish there was a swatch in store I could feel somewhere …to compare textures

Wouldn’t recommend silky kisses. I’ve had a few of the original slip silk pillowcases over the years. Love them. My friend got a silky kisses. Not as good as the real thing. I guess you get what you pay for.

Oh, damn! I did read through on the website to make sure, and Silky Kisses seemed to use real silk and to the same thickness as slip, so I took the dive. Ah well, purchased now! We’ll see how it goes. Still psyched about lovely morning hair and face!

I have 4 silky kisses pillowcases and I love them. I origionally got a Jade colour from a friend, and I purchased another to make it match, then I got 2 red ones so i can have different colours!!! Its cool being able to change them to your style of room.. seriously though, since ive been sleeping on them that sleep crease is vanished! and it doesnt pull on my hubbys beard like satin does!!

Our silk pillowcases also come in a range of 20 gorgeous colours, which can hide the colour residue that drops off your hair and face. However the really brilliant thing about silk is that it doesn’t absorb all your expensive beauty creams, like cotton does.
Sleeping on a Silky Kisses pillowcase not only do you get to enjoy all the benefits of sleeping on silk, (hypoallergenic, face creaseless, smooth hair…) you have 20 colour therapy choices, and the knowledge that all the proceeds go to women’s charity, and supports the happy community in Bali where they’re made, makes this a great gift that ticks all the boxes for anyone! Thanks for sharing about our business.

Ordered! The bed head thing is frustrating for me, I have fine hair and wake up daily with snags and kinks and have to continually re-straighten in between washes and blow dries. I always think this can’t be good for the hair… Hopefully will be alleviated greatly once I start using the silk pillowcase!

Ooh I want one! Just one question though – what’s it like to wash these? Do you have to handwash or can it go in gentle cycle in the machine? And I’m a little worried about stains from face oils/lip balms (Lanolips 101 Ointment, I’m looking at you!) – thought anyone?

I got mine from http://www.simplysilk.com.au – at first I washed them separately on gentle. Then I got lazy (bad girl!) and just threw them in with the rest of the sheets. I have two which I sort of rotate. At Christmas they will be 2 yrs old and are showing no real shows of wear and tear and have no lanolips stains – they are ivory (love that stuff).

The best thing for your face (and under eye area particularly) is to learn to sleep on your back! If you consistently sleep on one side only, you will end up with asymmetry in your face … Trust me, I know.

Have been contemplating a silk pillowcase for ages. Bought one of the slip ones a few weeks back and it is indeed love. So gorgeous and I really notice the effect on my hair. I went with black as I figured I didn’t want to see my face creams and serums smudged all over.

On it, bought one a few months ago & love it. Am positive it helps keep wrinkles at bay as my skin no longer grips to the pillow case & then get pulled every time I move. I also got it cheaper at Peters of Kensington than I could find in a store.

Hi Foe Z, I’ve seen you mention body washes with glycolic acid for those of us who have blemishes and congestion on our backs and chests. I’ve been to various pharmacies and they only seem to be able to suggest I use a glycolic face wash on my body. Would you mind suggesting a brand or 2 that do a specific glycolic or salicylic acid body wash? Thank you! X

This post came days after me wondering why the wrinkles on my right side of my face are heaps deeper than the left…I sleep on my right side so think I have found the answer to my question! Many years ago I was given a satin pillow case to supposedly help my hair but the bloody thing made my pillow slide off the bed every five minutes and after a couple of sleepless nights I removed it and went back to my normal ones very disappointed! ( Tho now after reading ur post satin wouldnt have helped anyway) So my question is… Does silk have the same effect? Will I find my pillow sliding off?? Has anyone had this issue?? Fruityyyy??? Thanks in advance

I seriously love my silk pillowcase! Ive not only found its helped my wrinkles but my skin is smoother now too. My husband has one and he loves his. when we travel we take it with us because we dont wabt to have to sleep on a cotton one! haha silky kisses is where we always buy ours! Such great quality, great price and they are lovely pressies to! I think they have something to do with charity too.. but I just love the feel of mine. so luxurious.

I have bought the Slip brand a few years ago, but tried Yangtze Store after my mother found the site. (I think the site is http://www.yangtzestore.com. ). The slips are a beautiful quality, and even with shipping they are half the price of Slip. I bought a silver colour.